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Janet Johnson, JU educator who founded its Upward Bound program, dies at 79

Civil rights leaders met at her home.

The Times-Union Janet Johnson was a "remarkable educator," former JU president Fran Kinne recalled.

Janet Johnson, a retired Jacksonville University educator whose home was the site of strategy sessions held by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died Wednesday of congestive heart failure. She was 79.

Mrs. Johnson’s late husband, Earl Johnson Sr., the City Council’s first African-American president, was an attorney and adviser to King.

In 1964, King and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, who helped start the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Andrew Young, who became mayor of Atlanta, met after dark in the Johnson home.

That was to divert attention from their residence for safety reasons, said Mrs. Johnson’s son, Earl Johnson Jr. The men were planning a series of desegregation protests, including one in St. Augustine that led to King’s arrest that same year. Johnson Sr., who died in 1988, represented King in that case.

Mrs. Johnson told the Times-Union she wanted to be involved in their conversations but never got the chance because she was “always having to quiet the baby in the other room” or make sandwiches.

But she made an impact on hundreds of students at JU, including Mayor Alvin Brown.

She came to the campus in 1971 as its first black faculty member, her son said. In 1977, she founded Upward Bound, a federally funded program that helps promising students at struggling high schools prepare for college.

More than 1,400 students participated during her 22 years as director. She also started a Special Services program to assist financially or culturally disadvantaged JU students.

Under Mrs. Johnson’s “tremendous leadership,” students in the program matured, went on to college and had successful careers, said Fran Kinne, former JU president and chancellor emeritus.

“She really was a remarkable educator,” Kinne said.

The mayor called her a role model.

“She really kept me focused as a student and person on maximizing my future,” Brown said. “She was a giant in our community and a giant at Jacksonville University. She didn’t just help me get ahead in school, she helped me get ahead in life.”

Mrs. Johnson was a Times-Union EVE Award recipient in the education category in 1984. She retired from JU in 1999. In 2001, she received JU’s Humanitarian Award.

The Columbus, Ga., native earned a bachelor’s degree from Morris Brown College and a master’s in education with completion of some doctoral studies from the University of Florida.

Other survivors include two daughters, Robin Johnson of Atlanta and Peri Lynne Johnson of Vienna, Austria; a son, Nelson Johnson of Los Angeles; nine grandchildren and a sister, Lillian Dennard of Brandon.

A funeral Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 11757 Old St. Augustine Road. Visitation starts at 9 a.m. Burial is in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. The family suggests donations to the Janet Johnson Scholarship Fund, c/o Jacksonville University.

sandy.strickland@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4128

Janet Johnson, JU educator who founded its Upward Bound program, dies at 79- By